Cable-railroad



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. M. WOOD & J. O. MILLER.

CABLE RAILROAD.

No. 557,320. Patented Ma.1*.31,' 1896.

5 SheetsSheet 4. W. M. WOOD 85 J. O. MILLER.

CABLE RAILROADY Patented Mar. 31

W mllllllllllll- (No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

Patented. Mar. 31, 1896' W. M. WOOD & J. 0. MILLER. CABLE RAILROAD.320..

(No Model.)

-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAM M. YVOOD AND JAMES C. MILLER, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK, AS-

SIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO CHARLES F. VRIGHT, OF SUSQUEHANNA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

CABLE-RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,320, dated March31, 1896.

Appli ation filed August 26,1895. Serial No. 560,617. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM M. l/VOOD and JAMES C. MILLER, residents ofElmira in the county of Ohemung and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Gable-Railroads and we do herebydeclare the following to be a f ull,clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in cable railways, and moreparticularly to electrical appliances adapted to be operated from thecar for controlling the operation of the machinery which drives thecable, whereby the latter can be quickly stopped in case of accident.

One object of our invention is to provide a cable-car with devices whichcan be operated quickly and practically instantaneously to close or openan electric circuit through suitable stop mechanism, clutch devices,signals or other apparatus located at the powerhouse, whereby to stopthe cable quickly in case of accident or for other reason.

Another object is to so construct and ar.

consists in certain novel features of construc-- tion and combinationsand arrangements of .parts, as hereinafter set forth,and pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carhaving our improvements applied thereto and also showing a section ofthe cable-conduit with our improvements therein. Fig. 2 is an end viewof a car and a cross-section of a portion of the cable conduit, showingour improvements. Figs.

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are views illustrating details. Fig. 10 is aView of a modification of a portion of the mechanism.

A represents a car; B, the conduit; 0, the cable, and D the grip carriedby the car and adapted to grip the cable. To the end of the car a boX orcasing 1 is secured and provided with a glass front 2. The top andbottom of the box or casing 1 are perforated for the accommodation of arod or bar 3, which is made of sufficient length to extend through thebottom of the car or the platform thereof, where it is pivotallyconnected with a crank-arm 4 projecting from a shaft 5. The shaft 5 isalso provided with a crank-arm 6, to which one end of a rod 7 ispivotally connected. From this construction it will be seen that theshaft 5 and crank-arms 4 and 6 constitute a bellcrank lever between therods 3 and 7. The rod 7 is mounted in a suitable bearing 8 secured tothe car and is connected with crankarms 9 9 at the upper ends ofvertical shafts 1O 10. The shafts 1O 10 are mounted at or near theirupper ends in brackets 11 11, secured to the car and the weight of saidshafts and devices secured to them are supported by said brackets. Theshafts 1O depend parallel with the ends of the grip D and are maintainedin proper relation thereto by means of small brackets or guides 12secured to and projecting from the ends of the grip. To that portion ofthe shafts 10 which passes through the throat a of the conduit arms orwings 13 13 are secured and normally disposed parallel with the sidefaces of the grip.

When the shafts 10 are caused to oscillate, (in a manner presentlyeXplained,) the arms or wings 13 will be turned at right angles to thegrip and made to project laterally therefrom in both directions, so asto be in the path of a lever 14: mounted in the conduit, regardless ofthe direction in which the car is running. The lever 14 is carried atone end of a shaft 15 mounted in a box or casing 16 secured to theframework of the conduit, preferably in the throat thereof. An arm 17 issecured to the shaft 15 within the casing 16 and provided at its endwith a contactplate 17 adapted to move over contact-blocks 18 in the boxor casing 16 These contactblocks are connected in circuit with anelectric stop mechanism, electric clutch mechanism or electric signalsat the power-house of a cable-road, so that when the contact-plate 17 ismoved so as to make contact with both blocks 18 the electric circuit,through the electric mechanism at the power-house, will be closed andsaid mechanism caused to opcrate to stop the cable. The contact arm orplate 17 is maintained in its normal position out of contact with one ofthe blocks 18 by means of a spring 19 coiled on the shaft and secured atits respective ends to said shaft and the box or casing containing it.

At a point within the boX or casing 1 the rod 3 is provided with a fixedcollar 20 adapted to rest on two yielding blocks 21 21, the latter beingrecessed, as at b, for the accommodation of the rod 3, and by theseblocks the rod 3 is maintained in its normal elevated position. Theblocks or slides 21 are adapted to slide between guides or flanges 22 onthe box or casing 1 and are maintained snug against the rod 3 under thecollar 20 by means of springs 23 disposed between the sides of the boxor casing and the outer edges of the sliding blocks, suitable recessesor cups 0 c preferably being provided for the reception of therespective ends of said springs. The front edges of the sliding blocks21 are made with curved lips cl, so that when a wedge-shaped block 24cis forced between them the blocks 21 will be moved laterally in oppositedirections and thus made to release the rod 3. The wedge-shaped block 24is carried by a comparatively heavy arm 25 hinged to a lug 26 projectingdownwardly from the casing 1, and said arm is provided with a handle 27.The rod 3 will, when released by the blocks 21 as above described, bemade to move quickly and with some force by means of a spring 28 whichencircles said rod and is secured at its respective ends thereto and toa casing 29 which incloses it.

Should an accident or some other cause necessitate the prompt stoppingof the cable, it will simply be necessary for the motorman to throw thearm 25 upwardly so as to cause the wedge-shaped block 24 to break theglass front of the casing 1 and enter between the sliding blocks orplates 21, thus separating the latter and releasing the rod 3. When therod 3 is thus released, it will move quickly and forcibly and transmitmotion, through the medium of the crank arms and shafts above described,to the vertical shafts 10 at the ends of the grip and cause the arms orwings 13 to assume positions at right angles to the grip. The arms orwings 13 will now be in position to strike the lever 14 of one of thecircuit-closers located in the conduit, said circuit-closers beingplaced at regular intervals throughout the length of the road. Theelectrical stop apparatus included in circuit with said circuit-closerscan thus be operated from the car and the cable stopped quickly.

It is not essential that two shafts 10 and wings or arms 13 be provided,but it is preferable in order to insure the proper operation of thecircuit-closers.

Instead of the devices above described for maintaining the rod 3 in itsnormally-elevated position and releasing it the said rod maybe pivotallyconnected to a pivoted operatinglever 30 and said lever provided with adog or tooth to engage a ratchet-bar 31, as shown in Fig. 10 and indotted lines in Fig. 2.

Numerous slight changes might be made in the details of construction ofour invention withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof or limiting itsscope, and hence we do not wish to limit ourselves to the precisedetails of construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, :is

1. In a cable-railroad, the combination with a conduit and a car, ofcircuit-closers located in said conduit, an oscillatory shaft carried bythe car and depending into the conduit, an arm or wing on said shaftadapted to be made to operate said circuit-closer, a crankarm at theupper end of said shaft, a horizontal rod connected with said crank-arm,a vertical rod, a bell-crank lever between said rods and means forreleasing and moving said vertical rod, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cable-railroad, the combination with a conduit and a car, ofcircuit-closers in the conduit, a shaft carried by the car and l1avingan arm to engage said circuit-closer, a verticallymovable rod on thecar, means for maintaining said rod normally elevated, connectionsbetween said rod and shaft, and means for releasing said rod,substantially as set forth.

3. In a cable-railroad, the combination with a conduit and a car, ofcircuit-closers in the conduit, a shaft on the car having an arm adaptedto be made to engage said circuitclosers, a vertically-movable rod,connections between said rod and shaft, means for maintaining said rodnormally elevated, means for releasing the rod and a spring for causingsaid rod to forcibly descend, substantially as set forth.

4. In a cable-railroad, the combination with a conduit and a car, of ashaft carried by the car and depending into the conduit, circuit closersin the conduit, an arm on the shaft adapted to be made to operate thecircuit- 7 closers, a crank-arm on the shaft, a horizontal rod connectedwith said crank-arm, a vertical rod, a bell-crank lever between saidrods, means for normally retaining said vertical rod in its elevatedposition, a lever for operating said retaining devices whereby torelease the vertical rod, and means for causing said rod to descend,substantially as set forth.

5. In a cable-railroad, the combination with a conduit and a car, ofcircuit-closers in the conduit, an oscillatory shaft carried by the carand depending into the conduit, an arm on said shaft to engage thecircuit-closers, a

vertically-movable rod on the car, a casing through which said rodpasses, a collaron the rod, yieldingblocks in the casing adapted to bedisposed under said collar, connections between said vertical rod andoscillatory shaft, and a lever having a block adapted to enter betweensaid yielding blocks and force them apart to release the vertical rod,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination with a cable-conduit and a car, of circuit-closers inthe conduit, a device carried by the car for operating saidcircuit-closers, a movable rod carried by the car and connected withsaid device, means for maintaining said rod normally elevated and meansfor lowering said movable rod, whereby to transmit motion to the devicefor operating the circuit-closers, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a cable-conduit and a car, of circuit-closers inthe conduit, a device carried by the car for operating saidcircuit-closers, a movable rod connected with said device, a collar onsaid rod, spring-pressed plates normally disposed under said collar andmeans for separating said plates, whereby to release the rod,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination with a cable-conduit and a car, of circuit-closers inthe conduit, a device carried by the car for operating saidcircuit-closers, a casing on the car, a vertically-movable rod passingthrough said casin g and connected with the device which 0perates thecircuit-closers, a collar on said rod, spring-pressed plates or blocksin the casing normally disposed under said collar, said plates or blockshaving curved or beveled lips, a pivoted arm, a wedge-shaped block onthe arm adapted to be made to enter between said curved or beveled lipsand separate the spring-pressed plates or blocks to release thevertically-movable rod, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a cable-conduit and a car, of circuit-closers inthe conduit, a device carried by the car for operating saidcircuit-closers, a vertically-movable rod on the car connected with saiddevice, a casing through which said rod passes, said casing having abreakable front, a collar on the rod, spring-pressed plates normallydisposed under said collar, a spring for forcing the rod downwardly, apivoted arm and a block carried by said arm and adapted to pass throughthe breakable front of the casing and sepa rate the spring-pressedplates, whereby to release the vertically-movable rod, substantially asset forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

\VILLIAM M. WOOD. JAMES C. MILLER.

WVitnesses:

JOHN W001), JOSEPH P. BRIGGS.

